Waterbury Man Sentenced In Hartford Killing

15 years for Waterbury man who helped kill Hartford drug dealer and dump his body

HARTFORD — A Waterbury man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Tuesday for his role in the 2013 killing of a drug dealer in Hartford whose body was then dumped in Portland.

Talib Shaheer, 34, pleaded guilty in April to reduced charges of second-degree robbery and tampering with evidence. At the time he was about to go on trial for felony murder. If convicted, he faced a life sentence in prison.

Shaheer's co-defendant, Madelyne Martinez-Mercardo, 24, of New Britain, pleaded guilty to murder in February and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Martinez-Mercado told police, according to an arrest warrant, that after she and Shaheer abducted Christopher T.J. Jefferson from Bond Street in Hartford, Shaheer pulled out a gun and handed it to her. She said she accidentally fired the weapon during a struggle with Jefferson. Jefferson was shot behind his right ear.

After dumping Jefferson's body, Shaheer, who is also known as Jerome Robinson, took cash and marijuana from Jefferson's body, according to the warrant.

Jefferson was found partially clothed, lying in the grass near St. Mary's Cemetery, according to Portland police. He was taken to Middlesex Hospital, then transferred to Hartford Hospital, where he died.

Police were able to track down Shaheer because his phone number was one of the last that showed up on Jefferson's cellphone records. They were able to track him from Waterbury to the area of Bond Street in Hartford, where Jefferson was kidnapped, and then Portland. A fingerprint in the car led police to Martinez-Mercado, according to the warrant.

"They intended to rob the drug dealer, the victim in this case," prosecutor Vicki Melchiorre told Hartford Superior Court Judge Joan K. Alexander. "Murder was not part of the plan."

Public Defender R. Bruce Lorenzon said the plea agreement was a compromise. He told the judge that Shaheer is an intelligent man who wants to make a better life for himself.

Shaheer did not speak.

Bernice Jones, the victim's mother, told the judge that losing her son has left a hole in her life.